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APOCOPE

Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language | 1998 | | Copyright

APOCOPE [Stress: ‘a-POK-o-py’].
1. The removal of an element at the end of a WORD, usually for informal economy of expression, as in: kit and marge, formed from kitten and margarine. Sometimes a suffix is added to the apocopated form, as in kitty from kitten and AusE journo from journalist. Apocope is common in especially affectionate nicknames: Margery becomes Marge, William becomes Will. Sometimes APHAERESIS and apocope occur together: Elizabeth cut to Liz, detective to tec.

2. The loss of the inflectional endings of Old English, as when singan became sing. See CLIPPING, ELISION.

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TOM McARTHUR. "APOCOPE." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

TOM McARTHUR. "APOCOPE." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-APOCOPE.html

TOM McARTHUR. "APOCOPE." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-APOCOPE.html

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apocope

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

apocope (gram.) cutting off the end of a word. XVI. — late L. — Gr. apokopé, f. apokóptein cut off.
So apocopate XIX, apocopation XVIII.

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T. F. HOAD. "apocope." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "apocope." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-apocope.html

T. F. HOAD. "apocope." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-apocope.html

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